It is my unfortunate responsibility to inform you that I no longer have a roommate. Following a few weeks of sickness, minimal eating and rather disturbing croaking, he was relegated to that great terrarium in the sky.

Honestly, I’m over it.

And I don’t think I’ll replace him.

See, Twerp and his environs were yet another manifestation of a perversion I’m discovering in new and varied corners my life: potential.

I’ve always been told I have potential. Certain events supported that notion. But somewhere along the way, I began to confuse potential with achievement. Learning precluded graduating. A quick start forestalled a strong finish. Flexibility delayed function.

And how does a dead turtle teach this?

To know that, you must know my turtle as I knew him.

Twerp’s story begins last summer when I began considering ways to make my apartment less sterile without becoming plush. It was a delicate balance for a guy who would happily accept the label of metro, but refuses on principle to invest the time or money to achieve that end. Life seemed an appropriate addition.

I got a plant from a leaving teacher and planned to get a fish. Then fish fever break out among the foreign teachers. I suppose it’s pride that disallows following a trend you start, but fish were no longer an option. My fourth-floor friends came to the rescue with a turtle. I realized the need to upgrade his living space from the plastic cube he arrived in, and secured a turtle tank big enough for swimming and equipped with ramped basking deck. Somehow, it never went anywhere from there. I knew where and how to get stones for the bottom. I planned for plants to decorate the place and provide him a more balanced diet, but I never did. I envisioned a spectacular microcosm of life and color and joy. He died never knowing how nice his world could have been.

In Memoriam of Twerp: (sometime before) 19 September 2008 – 19 April 2009

So, in memoriam of my reptilian friend, I’ve dedicated myself to restricting my experiential base and building some sort of structure on it.

May we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain.

God bless Twerp.
It never occured to me that you are a sentimental person.
Your article is concluded from a line from Lincoln’s famous speech.
I can recite that speech very fluently to you,someday ,sir.
haha///

Friends

Voices

To me ,he must be a loyal Christian and that’s the most important~hehe~-Melanie
i’m sorry, it’s “how are you doing” hahha~~~~~~-florence
Haha I ignored that. how are you going?-florence
Um, I think you just gave one, Florence.-justin
oh! haha! I’m so happy you didn’t share the 15 girls’ name~-florence